Good thinking, Batman!

The first time one of my Scottish colleagues said that to me, I thought it was a funny phrase to use and I would usually answer with ‘Why do I have to be Batman, can I not just be the sidekick and be Robin?’ On giving it further thought though, Batman’s outfit is cooler – Robin wears a red leotard and green pants (FYI, that’s underwear for British people, American ‘pants’ are referred to as ‘trousers’ here) and a little green eye mask, in my friend’s own words ‘You’d look like a Christmas tree’. Batman has a helmet-like mask that covers his face and is just black and grey. Batman has a cape. I prefer to be called Batman.

The phrase caught on and occasionally I would use the same phrase on said friend. Once I got my new Blackberry Z10 which I couldn’t wait to post about, I felt the need to personalise it a little. While I like the sleek design of the Z10, it’s rather plain looking. Very business like.

I thought about my earlier post on the Liberty x Hello Kitty collaboration. While I’m trying to exercise some restraint and not get everything I could possibly fit onto my phone with Hello Kitty on it, I saw all the lovely Hello Kitty hard cases people were making and selling on Etsy for Androids and iPhones. Lucky for me (lots of sarcasm injected here), the Z10 is such a new phone (it was only launched in the UK at the end of January/early February, but my service provider only had stock of it a couple of weeks ago) that hardly any sellers are customising phone cases for it.

So where is this going, you ask? If I can’t get one ready made, I had to make one of my own. I didn’t want something that was too ‘bling’ or one that will lose its appeal over time. You might have realised by now my attention span for things I’m obsessed about don’t last for too long. Also, I wanted a case that was funny/cute, but at the same time not overkill and look too childish or over the top. So while browsing, I decided I would find a vinyl sticker that I liked, get a clear hard case and do my own. These are the things I bought to make it work:

Clear hard plastic case for the Blackberry Z10, £1.90 with a screen protector from Ebay

Although shown in black, you can ask for it to be in a different colour. Since I got a clear case and the back of my Z10 is black, I decided it would be easier to see it if Hello Kitty Batman was white.

I could’ve posted step by step instructions on here and taken pictures to show you the steps I took, but to be honest, it’s as simple as:

1. Check the case and clean it of any fibres, dirt etc to make sure the surface where the vinyl sticker will go is clean
2. Cut the vinyl sticker paper to an appropriate size which will make it easier for you to align the final sticker on the case
3. Once it’s been decided where the sticker will go, carefully peel off the backing paper from the sticker (because your sticker will be facing a certain way, ie for Hello Kitty her bow is always on the right, so with the right side facing up, peel off the back piece)
4. Stick the sticky side of the back carefully onto the case and slightly put pressure with a fingernail or credit card or any other flexible plastic to strengthen the bond of the adhesive to the plastic surface of the case
5. When you’re satisfied, slowly peel off the front piece, making sure the paper is flat when you’re peeling it (ie don’t lift up the paper when peeling), keeping it as close to the case as possible. This helps with making sure cut out pieces of the vinyl doesn’t ilft off the surface you’ve stuck the sticker onto

This is my end result:

If anyone is interested, the faux fur phone case/pouch was US$23.50 (approx. £16) from SacColore on Etsy I can’t tell you how many people I’ve been proudly showing off my new engagement ring and my new Hello Kitty Batman companion (not at the same time, only finished the case last night and a few hours before that, I had to leave my pink sparkly baby at the jeweller’s to get re-sized) to everyone at work and home who will give me the time of day and patiently laugh at my sense of humour.